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- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: Proceso: Generals File Libel Suit
- Message-ID: <1992Dec15.070450.17881@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
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- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
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- Organization: PACH
- Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:04:50 GMT
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-
- /** reg.elsalvador: 148.0 **/
- ** Topic: Proceso 542: Editorial **
- ** Written 4:21 am Dec 13, 1992 by cidai@huracan.cr in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
- From: cidai@huracan.cr (Centro de Informacion Documentacion y Apoyo a la Invest. - UCAJSC)
- Subject: Proceso 542: Editorial
-
- Center for Information, Documentation and Research Support (CIDAI)
- Central American University (UCA)
- San Salvador, El Salvador
-
- PROCESO 542
- December 9, 1992
-
- EDITORIAL:
- The generals file a suit
-
- Generals Ponce and Zepeda have filed a libel suit with the
- Attorney General's Office against the non-governmental Human Rights
- Commission and the UNTS. This is the military chiefs' response to
- the paid advertisements published by the two organizations in
- Diario Latino, accusing them of numerous human rights violations.
- Since then, further ads have appeared accusing other top officers,
- as well as a list of 224 officers accused of similar violations.
- What is novel in all this is that the generals who were
- accused have decided to file suit with the Attorney General's
- Office. Only a few years ago, those responsible for the
- publications would have been 'disappeared' or summarily executed,
- as did occur with many human rights advocates and journalists
- committed to justice. The fact that violent means were not used is
- an aspect which must not be overlooked.
- The Attorney General's Office not only must demand proof of
- the charges, but should also seek them actively, given the
- importance of the case, since the prestige of the Armed Forces is
- at stake. In order to protect the generals from the charges and
- from further legal action, no more attacks must be made on the
- army's prestige. The Attorney General has the duty to investigate
- in order to demonstrate that those accused are not guilty of the
- violations attributed to them.
- The judicial system has currently admitted two suits for
- defamation of character. The first was filed by an FMLN leader
- against the government's Secretary of Information. The second comes
- from the Minister and Vice-Minister of Defense against the
- organizations mentioned above. Both must be equally prosecuted and,
- therefore, both place the impartiality and effectiveness of the
- discredited judicial branch to the test.
- The suit filed by the generals, however, contains another
- dimension. The plaintiffs are perfectly right in saying that the
- rule of law must prevail in El Salvador, without exceptions or
- privileges. Thus, they must be reminded that during the war years
- neither they nor their colleagues respected human rights,
- especially those rights, recognized by El Salvador, which apply to
- situations of conflict precisely in order to avoid excesses or
- abuses.
- It must be recognized that the issue of human rights has been
- extremely bothersome for leaders of practically all the armies of
- Latin America. To them, talk of human rights is tantamount to
- speaking of the devil, since they feel the issue limits their scope
- of action. They would like to use indiscriminate and unlimited
- violence in order to annihilate those they consider their enemies.
- Latin American military chiefs feel they have special powers which
- place them above the law and allow them to exercise violence at
- their discretion.
- The issue of human rights is totally foreign to the Latin
- American military. One must be very professional in order to be
- able to combine a military career with unlimited respect for human
- rights. The Salvadoran army is no exception; quite the contrary.
- For this reason, the peace accords demand a transformation of the
- traditional doctrines of the army and the police. The key is to
- conceive of the military profession and the function of the police
- as a service to the citizenry and as a means to protect, defend and
- promote human rights.
- The law must always prevail, and must be applied to all alike.
- The generals have the right to file a libel suit, but the victims
- of human rights violations have already accumulated even more
- rights, precisely because they are victims. It would be a monstrous
- injustice to hear the generals' suit without first having heard the
- many demands of their victims, in the context of due process. For
- ethical and Christian reasons, there can be no ruling in favor of
- the generals without first doing justice in the cases of the
- victims. One of the arguments most often heard from the generals is
- that the charges are part of a conspiracy, the object of which is
- the destruction of the Armed Forces. In reality, what has hurt the
- Armed Forces most is the lack of investigation. Speculation is
- avoided when accurate and credible information is available. The
- chiefs and officers themselves are the ones who are destroying the
- Armed Forces and conspiring against it. The only logical
- explanation for the lack of investigation of the crimes which have
- been committed is that many officers are implicated in them. For
- these officers who are responsible for human rights violations and
- common crimes, to remain in the ranks of the army and even in
- command posts is a disgrace to the entire institution.
- Human rights violators and common criminals are shielded by
- the institution without regard for the harm they are doing to it.
- Therefore, keeping the Ad Hoc Commission report confidential only
- serves to protect violators and criminals, and only continues to
- harm the institution.
- Demanding truth and justice in the names of the victims does
- not mean destroying the Armed Forces. We must continue to confuse
- the stability of the institution with the need to conceal the
- identities of human rights violators and criminals. Nor should the
- institution allow its power to be used in order to cover up their
- deeds.
- The true honor of the Armed Forces lies in defending and
- promoting respect for human rights. The Armed Forces ought to be
- the first to demand investigations of the crimes and violations
- committed over the past decade, and to demand justice. The Armed
- Forces could demonstrate its true vocation for democracy by
- expelling those who have violated human rights and committed
- crimes, without regard for post nor rank. The Armed Forces should
- take a firm step toward participating in a democracy and showing
- its commitment to truth and justice. Only then will its true honor
- be acknowledged by society, and only then will the people respect
- it.
-
-
- ** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **
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